Method of producing electrical energy from carbonaceous materials.



No. 677,226. Patented lune 25, |9.0|.

H. JUNE. METHUD 0F P BODUCING ELECTRICAL ENERGY FBUVH CARBDNAGEOUS MATERIALS.

(Application med July B, 1899.)

I l l ll Il 3 14IIIIIII'IIIIIIIIIIIIIII'IIIIIIIIIIIII'II,

all. w'l'tmn') it ntnfy con/cern.' j I Be 1t knowrL that I, HUGO JONE, a citizen ot` UNITED'. 1S'1`ATES PATENT OFFICE.

" nudo-Jona, on oIfIICAGo, ILLINOIS. y

'METHOD 40F PFlODUCiNG ELECl'RlCAL ENERGY FROM CARBONACEOS ltlAl'ElihlLS.` i

sPEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,226, dated .furie 25, 1.901. Application died July', 1899. Serial N'o. 723.239. No modell the United States, residing in Chicago, in the -county of Cook and State 4of Illinois, have `.invented va new and' useiul Improvementin Methods of and Means forProducing Elec- ..trical Energy from Carbon'aceous Materials,

of which the. folloivingv is a specification. l rlfhis invention relates to methods ofland means for producing electrical lenergy'frolnl carbonaceous materials. N

One obfect of the invention is to obtain a I high.- yield of electrical energy from those lkinds of fuel which .contain carbon, freeor combined, as the main constituent. f

A further object is to obtain this electrical.

I lenergy in the form of a current which is suffi,-V

` Other objects will become apparent ciently strong for practical purposes. i A herein A after.

The inventionconsists, substantially, in

' first generating an electric curreu t by the com,-

.than the energy obtained lits oxidationA in the battery. vcome up to these requirements or can be made bifiation of a metal with lan acid radical and then redueing,by means of the oxidation energy of carbonaceous fuel, thecompound thus formed to the metal and repeating the' generation, Whereby, however,.the selection of an especially-suitable metallic compound is of particular `in1portance,and, furthermore,in

.the construction of the batteryinwhich the current is generated, all as will be more fully hereinafterset forth, as illustrated in the accompanyi'ng'drawings, and finally specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

I will first set forth the principles underlying my invention and will then describe an illustrative form vof the invention.

In order to obtain ahgh yield oi' electrical energy, it is evidently necessary to select a metal which iscapable of producing much electrical energy and which at `the same time can be red uced easily from a compound formed in thebattery an'd"'witl1` expenditure .of au amount of energyfxvhich i/hut little greater rom the metal by Lead andtin to come up to them. If the acid radical which generally 1s combined with the metal in the battery isreduced fin the 'reduction ofther "compoundpbesidesibeing separatedl from themetal, I utilize'the'poi .tential energy of both reduction products, the

metallic and the acid, for thegeneration ofelectrical energy, provided the potentialv energy of the acid-reduction product is 'great enough to warrant it. It is an advantage to 'be able to utilize for the generation of.- electrical energy both the acid and-,the metallic reduction products, since the acid radicals of soine of `the most suit-ablebattery products lose'oxygen in vthe reduction.. i

Inutilizing the potential energy of the reduced acid radicalsuch as, for instance, sulfur dioxid4 obtained by the reduction of a sulfate-I` utilize also its temperature.

.tion is capable of furnishingelectrical energy. As the sulfur dioxid is'hot when'it vchlorid solution, thus producing the elevated temperature which is necessary for the rapid reduction of ferric salts by sulfur dioxid, and therefore accelerating the reduction of the ferrie chlorid. A similar utilization of heat is accomplished by surrounding the reduction-retort by the cells in which the metal and the sulfur dioxidl are to generate elec trical energy by oxidation. The elevated temperature of 4the cells thus obtained by contact with the reduction-retort accelerates the y oxidation ofthe metalaud the sulfur dioxid it the oxidants are suitably selected and at the ,same time facilitates the regeneration of Vthe nitric acid, which is used as a depolarizer, as` will be seen hereinafter. i

Wherever in the process of converting the potential energy of the carbonaceousy mate- I passtthrou'gh a solution of ferrie chlorid,rthus obtaining ferrous "chlorid, which by oxida.

.comes from the reductionfretort,:where the sulfate is reduced, it heatsup'theferricrial into electrical energy anendothermic reaction can be used, this is done in preference to exothermic reactions, because the former "afford the conversion of the heat which they absorb into chemical energy,whioh in turn may be converted into electrical energy.

` Other featuresrofrthe present invention are a device for the prevention of the diiusion of electrolytes and a method for .the removal of the battery product f rom electrolyte or elec.-

loo trede. The prevention of diffusion is'based I formed will be oxidized before it reaches theI nitric acid if it is suilicientlyidistant from the acid. so'

` substance by means of molecular exchange.

gen by hydrogen being continued, hydrogen will ultimately be liberated from a sulfuricoxidant, so that the hydrogen is oxidized ,.fA In the analogous' way the oxygen of t-h'e'oxi- 'furie acid and to the' highytemperature. If

a narrow vessel of porous clay contai ning sul- .cell-forinstance,that known as ll/Iortaudsl arated from each other.'

that the'hydrogen is conveyed to the oxidant 'Ex criment shows that if ferrous chlorid is owing to the dehydrating 4action ofthe sulfuric acid be interposed between nitric acid and an electrolyte `which is tobe oxidized by the nitric acid at ay temperature above the' boiling-point of the nitric acid, the nitric acid' is partly or wholly evaporated before it can diffuse into the electrolyte, while electrolytic action continues. iN either can the oxidizab'le substance in the electrolyte diiuse .into the nitric acid if it be produced at a distance, so that itis oxidized before it reaches the nitric acid. If, for instance, ferricfsalt is reduced by sulfur dioxid in a cell where nitric acid is used as a depolarizer, the ferrous salt thusl Although the nitric acid'is not in contact with the oxidizablesubsta'nbe, it oxidizes that Many cells have, so far. as I can see, this mo l lecular exchange in com mon with-the present cell. 4 Just as in Mort-auds cell,'the peroxid of lead oxidizes the nascent hydrogen which is liberated at a distancefr'om it-namely', on the surface of the zinc electrode-so also in the present case the nitric acid oxidizes the ferrous chlorid or a similar, substance, although tbese two substances are locally sep- The two oxidatie-ns may be explained on the theory that the. dilute sulfuric acid which is between the reacting' substances in either case acts as a transmitter of either hydrogen or oxygen, so

or else the oxygen of tlle oxidant to the oxidizable substance. The hydrogen liberated on the surface of the zinc may be said to enter into the adjoining sulfuric-acid molecule located in the direction of the oxidant, thus displacing an equivalent quantity of hydrogen, which in turn displaces an equivalent quantity of hydrogen in the neat'sulfuric-y acid molecule. This displacement of hydro'-y acid molecule which is in contact with the dant Wouldbe transferrcdto the cxidizable substance. It is immaterial if it is the hy' drogen'which is transmitted'orf-the oxygenr suitably combined with nitric acid in a galvanic cell and a narrow porous vessel of sulfuric acid is interposed the ferrous chlorid is oxidized by the nitric acid at a temperature approaching the boiling-point of water and an electric current is gene'ratedJhereby. The fact that the t'wo substances which are locally separated from each other react wi theach other I have 'j ust attributed to molecular ex'- change; but it is tohe remembered that thereV vention.

`forms of the invention.`

As an illustrative embodiment, of these Jto sulfid.

- tallic 'lead and 'sulfur' dioxid.

is no absolute prooffcfr the theory of 'molecuing theory. The kind of chemical reactions f' which-are based-on molecular exchange are well adapted for the purpose' in hand, as they do 'not only permit the interposing of sulfurlc acid, butalso are just those reactions which the'dec'omposition of a saltby an v,acid-which forms an almost insoluble saltiwith the base produce electrical energy in galvanic cells.= l

The removal ol' the battery product 'fromv f an electrolyte or froman electrode is basedon additionof sulfuric acid, rid'th electrolyte ot the dissolved lead salt and eventually rid Theseare the principles underlying the insets of chemicals, and theymay not all heapplied simnltaueously, thus yielding several They can be applied todiderent4 principles,Tv I will describe aformof vthe invention'lin which sulfate ofl'lead is the substance to vbe reduced.V 'The' mainfea-tures of'this form of the invention are as follows: The sul-v fat of lead is heated with coal and reduced:

another quantity 'of 'the sulfate, yielding me` lead after beingpuri-ied and cast into. sheets The resulting suld isheated `with The metallic IOO is used as an electrode in a. solution containing ferrie chloridandhyd rochlorieacid, While;

nitric'acd contained -iu .a porous cup-is used asa depolarizer. through the soluiionof ferrie-chlorid, yielding ferrous chloridwand,sulfuric acid --An electric current is-'obtained by the action of the ferrie chloridupon the lead and increased by the oxidation of the ferrous chlorid -re sulting from the red uction of the ferrie chlorid again formed and can again'be'reduced. The

The s'nlurdiozrid is passed' uo by both the sulfur dioxid and the lead elect`rode, the oxygen being supplied by the 'nitric acid, By, this oxidation ferrie chlorid-is the deoxidationof thefnitric acid'to comein 'contact with airain thepre'sence of moisture and atan elevated temperature. Uuder these conditions, and particularly inconsequen'ce oi the elevated temperature, 'nitric acidf is again obtained by oxidation andfcond'ensa -tion and may again be supplied to -the. bat tery.; The circulation of theoxids of nitro` "gen is secured by their own evaporatonand condensation.' 'Nitric acid is chosen'as the' oxidant because' it is a good l depolarizer and because it can easily be regenerated by4 supplying atmospheric oxygen, as just described; I The `lead vcl`1l o rd;in-y solution and that which accumulates on the lead electrode in the forni ot' a crust is decomposed bythe sulfuric acid, vand'thesnalfate of lead is allowed to accumnlate at the bottom of the 'cell `for future reeinen@ lduction, whilev the hydrochloric acid is re- The apparatus in 1which these processes are I carried out consists, substantially, of' a retort and-an electric battery surrounding it, suitably arranged and connected. In-the accompanyingdrawings I have shown an illustratve=forn1 of the apparatus.

' Referring to the drawings and to the various views and reference-signs'appearingthereon, Figure l is a top plan view of thev apparams. f Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 -2 of Fig. 3 seen in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig'. Sis-a horizontal section on 1i is a Vertical section -On line 4 4 of 3 seen in the direction' in` .dicated by the arrows.. A f

The same reference-sign' designates the vsame part wherever it occurs in -theseveral Views. y The retort 1()l inthe rounded by a batteryof four cells.- These four cells.- The number of cells, howevenis immaterial. and may be varied, they present case of four cells being' merely an example.v The retort 10 communicates througlrpipef-Q with the circularpipe 26, whose branches 27 in turn deliver into the liquid contained in the sections 28 of thevcells. This' liquid con sists of a solution of ferrie chloridin hydro- The battery is kept at a' temperature which tween Wall 17 and the cell-wall 16.

chloric acid. 'When the battery is running,A

somechlorid of lead which is formed -in the batter reaction also oe's into solution vthe- 7 battery being kept at 4an eleyated tempera ture. The retort 10 is `heated by fuel intro'- duced into tire-pan 14 throughopening '9,

The furnace-gases pass through opening .6' -into the passa5e-wayv 4, circulate.around the.. furnace 3, which supports therctort 10, heatingup the. cells` on the outside, and inally escape through the smoke-stack 5. `which can be closed .by valve 13, is a drain- 'pipe for retort 10,'r adapted to deliver molten metallic lead from retort 10 to vpan 15.

' lEach of' thecells is divided into three sec-v tions by the `walls 17 and 18, section 28, which has been mentioned' above, being that be- (H2804.) The section between wall 18 and WallV 1G on the 4other end of the cell contains nitric acid.- `Inthis nitric-acid section there is av stationary carbon-electrode 20, suitably supf' ported and insulated. lln section 28, contain-v `ingferric-chlorid soll1'tion,the1e is a leadelectrode 19, which, however, is removed when the battery is not running.

apparatus shown is sur-l a screw-.cap 11.

Pipe 12,

Section f battery.

issuiiicientlyyhigh to slowly evaporate the i the vapors come in contact with atmospheric air, are oxidized to peroxid of nitrogen and thento nitric acid, and condensed, suliicient moisture being distilled along with the va.-

pors. The condensed nitric acid flows back through pipe 29 into the nitric-acid sections lValls 17 and lblare 'made of porous clay, sothat electrolytic vaction between the electrodes 19 and 2O can take place through them. WV .all 18^does not quite reach up to the cover of the cell, so that any nitric acid which penetrates into section 30 through the porous wall 18 can after evaporationunite with the vapor from the nitric-acid section. This nitricacid vapor from section 30 then is finally transferred to the nitric-acid sections after passing. through the condenser. r

The chlorid of II ead formed bythe battery reaction `is decomposed by the sulfuric acid iormedfrom thesnlfur dioxid passing the celithrough piped?.

at the bottom ,of the cell as asediment'34. i

:A-inixture of sulfate of lead and sultid of' lead 24-is shown on the bottoni of the retort 10. The retort-can be closed and opened by tained 1luy-raising cover 8 of the furnace 3,

Access tothe retort 1 0 is ob-v which is a part of the 'larger cover '7 of the battery.

' The electrodes ofV the cells are connected by Wires 21in the usual manner, the current being obtained between wires 21 and23.

lheoperations are as follows: A suitable quantity of sulfate of lead is placed in the retort 10. A quantity ofl coal which il; nearly.`

Vrepresented by the'following formular' The carbondioxid thus formed kis allowed to escape. 1t Vmay be passed through pipe 26 and the perforated branches 27 of the saine if it be desired-.to heat up the liquid 'in the The sulfid is freed from impurities which may have been brought into it by the coal, and then it is mixed with sulfate of lead in suiiicieut quantity to yield vmetallic lead andusultur dioxid, as follows:

'/ v. i n This' reduction is effected by' again applying 3Feoi,+-Hno,+3r1ci= sFeo1,+2H,o+No. The new of sulfur-diaria is so regulated that vss Previous to this, however, the generation `of an electric current is started by putting the lead electrodes 19.into their places in the lcells and suitably connecting them with the .carbon electrodes. The,current may be considered as consisting of two currents, one generated bj; the laction of the ferrie chlorid on the-lead electrode and the other by the action of the nitric acid through the interposed porous wallsr and sulfuric acid by means of mo- Y lecular exchange on the ferrous chlorid, the reactions being as follows:

the sulfuric acid formed is 'not more than suf- .iicient -to decompose' the 'chlorid of' lead The lead formed in the battery reaction. y in the retort being melted'is allowed' to How intopa'n 15 in such a manner that itjis sepat rated from any coal-ashes which may -lloat on it, and that the .shapeof the metal in thepan after solidication is one suitable for the use of the metal as an electrode-preferably that'of a sheet. Any ashes which may have remained in the retort are removed: Another quantity of sulfate of leadis then reduced to suld by coal, as before, and the suld again mixed with another quantity of sulfate of lead and the mixture heated `so that sulfur dioxid and metallic lead are obtained. The sulfur dioxid is again utilized to reduce ferrie chlorid in the cells, and the lead. is again collected in afpan. Thus the reduc'- tions are repeated. yThe sheets of lead thus obtained are reserved until they are needed for use as electrodes. Whenever a lead elec#V trode .is consumed or nearly consumed by the battery reaction, one of the reserve sheets of lead is substituted for it. The sulfate of lead which '1s depositedby the battery is allowed to accumulate. lVhen it is desired to.re-

move it, the lead electrodes are lifted out of the cells, the reductions are discontinued, thev liquid in the cells is drawn off by means of siphons, and the depositof sulfate of lead is removed. This sulfate. of lead is, reserved until it is needed for either of the reductions, when the required quantity is supplied to the retort. v Thus the sulfate of lead which is removed from the batte'ry is reduced, yielding metallic lead andjsulfur dioxid. These two reduction products are supplied to the battery, forming again sulfate of lead, which'is" then again reduced, so that the process is repeated and the generation of electrical energy continued. The temperature of the battery ,is regulated so that the nitric acid which enters into the sulfuric-acid section v30 is evapo-A rated. The vapors of the oxids of nitrogen which rise from the nitric-acid sections and the sulfuric-acid sections are allowed to pass intothe condenser-coil 32 through pipe 31'. In this coil they come in contact with the air, are oxidized, and then condensed to nitric acid. The nitric acid flows back into the nitric-acid sections of the cellsthrough pipe 29. This process of distillation, oxidation, and condensation -is kept up by regulating the sufficient cooling-water to the condenser.

which consumesthat 'oxygen goes on.

The potentialfdilerence .of a lcell at 100? resistance of a'. cell resistance of .0.04 ohm. trical energyamountsto thirty-five per cent.v

-would be given 0E in the oxidation to carbon holding four gallons of liquid.

In order to obtain better electrodes which duce the internal resistance, the lead cast into v forms for use as electrodes may bev crystallized'by allowingit to cool down slowly.

`The low melting-point of the metallic lead affords several advantages. 1m purities which might hap/penV to' be in the reduction-retort are kept out'of the lead. Most other metals,

so that the local action which theywould. produce when the lead is subsequently 'used as au elect-rode is thereby prevented-Anytin, vif present, might be melted togetheil` with the lead,vbut could .not enter into the sulfate of lead formed at' the bottom of the cells, since a' result there is" little or no l'ocal action. The

.saying o'f fuel in th tg-feasting of electrodes, since most other metals vhaving higher meltv ing-points require morek fuel in that process.

which arev not `consumed in the battery can be easily. utilized, since they can be melted together to form a complete electrode.

lead 'aids in maintaining the lead pure. It effects the separation of the ashes of the coal, since they-are lighter than the molten lead.

namely, the'sulfur dioXid-does notcarry the ashes along with it into the cells, the electrolyte is" not. contaminated with the ashes. Both reductions-that of the sulfate of lead to 1 sulfxd to metallic lead-may be carried out in the' same' process and at the 'same time 1f the coal is comparatiyqly pure. If,l however, the

temperatureof the battery and' supplying,

Thus oxygen is ysupplied to the nitric acid,l while the generationiof ,electrical energy centigrade is labout 1.75 volts. The internalv liquid and-of the form shown in the draw-- dioxid of the carbon consumed with a batteryfor instance, 'being less fusible, do notenter` into the molten metallic lead in the reduction,

it wouldnot befprecpitated as sulfate. As

Likewise the remnants ofthe llead electrodes.

of .the electrical` equivalent ofthe heat which offer a large surface to therelectrolyte and re- The high specificgravity of the metallic Since, also, the other reduction product- Tsulfid andthat of the mixture o f sulfateand,4

reduction.

` stronger curren t,

coal is impure, it is 'ad vantageous to etfect the reductions separately and to remove ,.theimpurities from the sulfid obtained in the :first .The ferrie v(':h'lorid iords .several advantages. It acts quicker on the lead electrode than hydrochloric acid4 and produces a It affords the production of an additional current aftei` its action as al1 oxidizer by the formation of, ferrous chlorid, which, as explained hereinabove, is'again oxdized with thegeneration of an electric eurrent and with rfa-formation of ferrie chlorid, which then again serves as an oxidizer. The ferriechlorid also obviates the formation of two diierent battery products in two different cells by being reducible by both sulfur dioxid and metallic lead. The ferrous chlorid, although obtained by two dierent reductions, yields, evidently, ferrie ch'lorid in either case 'inthe battery reaction.

. VVha't I` claim as u H ydrochlori'c acid and ferrie chlorid are preferred to'hydrobromic acid and ferrie bromid and to silnilaracids and,saltsfbecause the chl-Grid affords the production of 1no .e-elcc,,l trical-energy, owing to its greater heat of for mation., j l

seful, and desireto secure by Letters Patent,'is as follows 1. The method of generating electrical en orgy which consists infirst reduci ng,by means of Fthe oxidation energy of carbonaceous fuel,

the sulfate of a metal to the metal and sulfur dioxid, and then producingelectrical energy rst by combining the metal with an electronegative substance in a gal-vanic cell, and secondly-by `reducing a metallic compound by the sulfur` dioxidVa'nd combining the prod uc-t obtained from the metallic compound by this reduction with an oxidant in agalvanie cell, wherebythe oxidation energy of the carbonac'eous fuel' is converted first into chemical and then into electrical energy.

2.' The method of generating electrical en-` yergywhich consists in first reducing, bym cans of the oxidation energy of carbonaceous fuel,

sulfate of lead to metallic lead and sulfur dioxfid, then reducing a' ferrie salt to the ferrous salt bythesulfur dioxid, thereby converting said sulfur dioxid into sulfuric acid, producingelectrical energy by combining the ferrous salt thus obtained, withan oxidant in a galvanic cell, and furthermore by com.

bining the lead with an acid chlorid in agal- Vanic cell, and finally decomposing the-lead chlorid formed in this latter combination, by

the sulfuric acid formed from the sulfur dioxid, 4whereby the oxidation and neutraliza- 'tion energies of the lead and thesulfurdioxid directly', and the oxidation energy o f the carbonaceousfuel indirectly, are converted into electrical energy, with restoration of the sulfate of 1ead,'and with consnrnptionof no other 'substance than oxygen, besides the carbona` I ceous fuel.

3. Th'e method of generating electrical energy which consists in first reducing, by means of the oxidation energy of ca-ibcnaceous fuel,I

the sulfate of a metal to the metal and sulfur dioxid, then reducing, by means of the sulfur dioxid as lthe reducing'agent, ferrie chlord.

in solution -to ferrous chlorid, the vsolution being separated from'liqnid ni'tric.acid by a narrow columnV of sulfuric acid ata temperature suiciently high to evaporate the nitric acid'en'tering it, combining the iro'n solution with the nitric acid in a galvanic" cell, thus' oxidizing the ferrous chlorid formedby the reduction toferric chlorid by the action of the nitric acid, with generation of an electric current, -and combining the metal with' an electronegative substance also ina galvanic cell, whereby the oxidation energy ofthe carbonaceous-iuelis converted firstA into chernical and then into electricalenergy, and the loss of energy'duef'to diffusion is decreased.'

HUGO J ONE.-

.Vituesses V G.1{ATE' ARMsrRoNG, MARY F. 'LINCOLN'. 4 

